MPAA Hypocrisy: We Must Protect Culture! But We're Not Interested In Protecting Culture!

from the all-depends-on-the-question dept

Ah, the blatant hypocrisy of the MPAA. The organization and its supporters freely and frequently throw around bogus claims about how it's important to give it all the things it wants in terms of copyright laws and protectionism in order to protect culture. For example, just look at how MPAA VP Greg Frazier responded to a question in Brazil about Brazil's newly proposed copyright laws by saying:

Now, if you do not believe in the value of creativity, the importance of protecting it and to reward those who produce, then maybe you can justify [copyright infringement]. But in this case, you'll be doing great harm to the culture."

You see, copyright is important to protect culture. In the very next question, he's then asked about Creative Commons and how it has great support in Brazil. And his response is completely the opposite:

Well, not sure. They [supporters of Creative Commons] do not always agree with what we preach. And you're talking about democratizing culture, this is not one of our interests. It really isn't my interest.

So, got that? The MPAA says culture is important... when it makes the MPAA money. Otherwise... eh... not so important.

Of course, what this is really about is that the MPAA got spooked by proposals to Brazilian copyright law last year that would have gone quite far in terms of making a much more reasonable copyright law. It would have done away with notice-and-takedown and said that service providers would only have to remove content with a court order. It would have created penalties for inhibiting fair use or the public domain. And the scariest proposal of all to the MPAA? One suggestion to completely legalize file sharing.

Now, if we want to discuss the cultural situation in Brazil -- something Frazier really didn't want to get into -- why not point to the massive success of technobraega music in Brazil. The technobraega trend really is a wonderful example of democratized culture, where the creators of this music go to great lengths to give it away free, encouraging people to share it widely, even supporting the creation of "counterfeit" CDs to help the music spread, knowing that the more it spreads, the better they can do with live shows. Technobraega music in Brazil is a huge phenomenon, and an excellent case study in how a music industry can thrive and make money without copyright concerns, with free sharing... and do so in a way that really does "democratize" culture. Exactly what the MPAA is most afraid of.

That's because the MPAA and the big studios it represents don't want to help protect "culture" at all. They want to help protect the limitations on culture, such that they get to continue acting as a gatekeeper to culture.

Filed Under: brazil, copyright, creative commons, culture, greg frazier, mpaa
Companies: mpaa